peanut butter chips

I read this really fascinating article the other day about why time seems to speed up as we get older. It’s actually a wonderfully simple explanation of this common phenomenon, and it turns out that we’re not all going crazy.

Time does speed up as we age. See, when we’re little, a month seems like forever because our lives have been pretty short. A six year-old will spend what seems like decades waiting for her birthday because, relatively speaking, a year is a huge percentage of her life. That’s not at all true for a thirty-six year old, for whom a year is a much smaller percentage of life. And by the time anyone reaches much older age, time whizzes by because the majority of years spent alive vs. any time increment is much larger.

Do I sound like a total nerd here? You caught me. I am a nerd about a lot of things, like Shakespeare, Star Trek, and getting older. Getting older scares me, and the faster time goes, the more my existential dread rears its ugly head. But since I’m also a baking nerd, I can use my prowess in the kitchen to provide some much-needed distraction from time’s unyielding march onward.

Oh, how I love a truffle. And cookie dough. And together…wham! Wait, is that Emeril’s line? Or is that “bam!” I always get confused.

Wham, bam, thank you…egg-free peanut butter cookie dough. Filled with peanut butter and butterscotch chips. Covered in chocolate with peanut butter drizzle. Because boy, do you make life that much better.

To be honest, I need a little more chocolate therapy than usual this week. My body is sore thanks to a tubing incident, and I need to dull the pain, doctor.

With a bar, actually. That’s how you top the best sandwich ever. This bar is soft and chewy and topped with strawberry jelly. Oh, and peanut butter chips. Can you imagine what would have happened if your mother had put peanut butter chips in your sandwich when you were a kid? That’s known as “bad parenting.” But it works really well in a dessert bar!

Too well, actually. These guys got banished to the freezer so I wouldn’t slam back the entire batch in one day. It makes me wonder why I didn’t name my blog after all things peanut butter. If you must know, I like to rename my blog in my head. But I still really like Just About Baked.

If you’ve been following Just About Baked for any length of time, you know that I love the food. All the food. And the food products. My life is one happy trip to the grocery store to find new things.

A couple of years back, I was in the bakery section of my local Safeway (not an unusual place to find me) when I spotted Hannah Max Cookie Chips on the shelf. They had several flavors, and I picked up the chocolate chip, not knowing what to expect.

What I got was a crispy cookie that tasted absolutely homemade. And they were so good that Kenny (these were the days prior to his gluten-free lifestyle) ate the entire bag. And when I bought more, I was wise enough to hide them.

No, I’m not confused. I realize that I’m four days late. It happens, okay?

Here’s the thing. It’s always so much more fun to celebrate a holiday once it’s over. Example: your birthday comes and goes, but there’s that one friend who forgot or was out of town, so they take you out a week later and celebrate. It’s so nice to keep the party going!

Having choices never makes life easier. It just makes life better. Think about it: 40 years ago, women couldn't do so many important jobs because we weren't considered worthy. Gradually, thanks to women's rights and some common sense, the general…

It finally happened. Here in DC, we broke a record. Apparently, it hasn’t been this cold in over 100 years.

Why don’t I feel good about breaking that record?

Maybe because if I’m going to be a witness to record-breaking, I’d rather there be something more fun involved, like cheesecake eating. Has anyone ever broken a cheesecake-eating record? I’m sure. I’d like to be told about it, but please don’t send me any videos.

Yeah, yeah. There’s been a lot of peanut butter in these here parts recently.

It’s hard to resist always baking your favorite thing. Like when my brother bakes, he chooses lemon-based desserts because that’s his favorite. And when my husband bakes…nope, just kidding. That never happens.

How many days can you go without a brownie? Because I can last two days. Then it all falls apart.

There are two desserts in this world that I can never say no to. The first is a chocolate chip cookie. I know very few people who can ever resist one. I even love the Costco ones. They’re processed. They’re huge. They’re delicious.

And then, taunting me always, is a perfectly fudgy brownie. You’d think that there aren’t a lot of good ones out there, but man, is that wrong. There are incredible brownies everywhere. It’s kind of encouraging, really. What kind of world would we live in if good brownies weren’t available on every street corner along with Coke Slurpees and Starbucks?

I’ll be honest. I said I was going to post recipes containing cocoa all week, and I really meant to.

But then I realized that New Year’s Eve is tonight, and what better to ring in the year than my favorite combination in all the world? I mean, really. It had to be peanut butter and chocolate.

So cocoa will be back Friday. For now, I’m all about this dip. This fantastic dessert dip is perfect for a New Year’s party and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. It’s also easy and it can be made without gluten. So don’t stop yourself this time!